Bibbulman Noongar resistance fighter and leader of his people, Midgegooroo was executed by colonists - four years into their invasive colony - on May 22, 1833. Midgegooroo's body was not returned to his people but buried by the side of a then quickly crafted grubby jail, where an Anglican Church and Deanery now stand in the heart of Perth's bustling commercial business district. Due to recent earthworks nearby the Deanery, human remains have been found and they are believed to be of Midgegooroo.
His great great great grandsons, Albert Corunna and Richard Wilkes - the two oldest of his direct descendants - have called for the earthworks to cease. The remains were found a couple of metres from one of the walls of the Deanery. They believe that the remains of more of their ancestors may well lay at the site - individuals murdered by the colonists for resisting the forced removals of their peoples from the lands that had been in their care for anything between 50,000
to 100,000 years.
"My great great great grandfather's remains should be returned to our people. This is why I am here at the site to make sure this happens. Back then they executed Midgegooroo by firing squad and then killed his son Yagan months later. They did not return the body of Midgegooroo to our people. They said in effect that we will do as we please and we will bury him in an unmarked grave without any ceremony or dignity and let this be a warning to all of you who resist us," said Mr Corunna.
"The earthworks should have ceased and exploratory work undertaken to find the remains of all our ancestors."
Mr Wilkes said that it should be "direct descendants of Midgegooroo who should be advising as to the culturally sensitive retrieval of Midgegooroo's remains and those of any other of our ancestors."
It is not only the direct descendants of Midgegoorooo who are affronted by the continuing earthworks outside the Deanery but so too many other Noongar peoples. Herbert Bropho, a member of the Swan Valley's River People, often referred to as "the last of the River People", said, "most Noongar people are related to Midgegooroo.
"If you go back far enough you will find we are all related. He was a warrior who stood up to the British invaders. It was the British who began the carnage and pain on our people that affects so many of us to this day."
Mr Corunna has inspected the unearthed remains, and said, "We can see his remains in between cables and pipes. It appears that in the 1970s when these cables and pipes were laid construction workers and technicians had kept quiet about the discovery of the remains so that construction would not be shut down."
"It is desecration. They put the profit motive before dignity."
Midgegooroo was accused by the colonists of killing a settler. But Mr Corunna believes this to be a lie.
"They could say anything they liked and they did state everything to suit their agendas."
"I don't believe he killed the people he was said to have killed and certainly not for the reasons alleged. They apprehended him on the word of one person to begin with and then solicited the rest of what was said about him. In one incident, they said his spear had been found with the body of the victim. No Noongar, no Aboriginal person leaves their spear behind. What Noongar would leave their spear behind? Do you know how much work and time goes into making a spear, into shaping it? It is unimaginable to believe they found a spear. He would not have left it behind."
"The so-called coroner's inquest occurred on the same day as he would be executed by firing squad," said Mr Corunna. He was executed under the orders of Lieutenant Governor Frederick Irwin.
Midgegooroo had refused to provide any casual labour to the colonists and till his execution continued to move around his lands within the impost of the four year old colony with his wives and children. He was regarded as hostile to the British when on his Country. It has been recorded by the early colonists that Midgegooroo focused on "taking care of the women and children of the tribe."
It is believed that one year into the colony, in 1830, Midgegooroo was beaten by colonists in retaliation "for actions he did not fully comprehend".
It has been recorded that in February 1831, Midgegooroo walked into a store in Fremantle and was given biscuits by a shop servant, James Lacey. It is recorded that Mr Lacey said, "Midgegooroo was not satisfied. I was obliged to put him out of the store by force."
"As I was in the act of shutting the door he threw a spear at me through the open space of the doorway. It lodged in the opposite side. I went out of the store with a pick-axe in my hand to drive him out."
"He retreated when he saw me, and as supposed he was going away, I threw down the pick-axe - he ran towards it. (He) picked it up, and was in the act of throwing it at me, upon which I ran away. He then threw the pick-axe down the well."
Midgegooroo and his son Yagan are said to have attacked a homestead in retaliation for the murder of a Noongar man by colonists who caught him in the act of taking potatoes and a fowl from a farm.
A farm servant, Erin Entwhistle, was killed. His son, Ralph, ten years old, it is stated identified Midgegooroo as the person responsible for his father's death.
"They thrust spears through the wattle wall of the house - my father was ill at the time - he went out and was instantly speared."
"Midgegooroo threw the second spear, which brought my father to the ground. I am quite sure the native now in Perth jail is the very same who threw the second spear at my father - I know him by the remarkable bump on his forehead - and I had full time to mark him on the day of the murder, for when my father fell, I and my brother ran into the inner room, and hid ourselves beneath the bedstead," stated Ralph in a deposition.
In April 1833, the colonists declared Midgegooroo and Yagan as outlaws. It was alleged that one morning Midgegooroo and Yagan and up to 30 others encountered several colonists, including Thomas and John Velvick who were employed as farm labourers. They had been loading a cart with provisions at what is now Bull Creek.
According to a witness, Thomas Yule, "There were about thirty natives present, amongst whom I saw Yagan, Midgegooroo, Migo, and Munday. Their conduct was perfectly friendly. They appeared very anxious to know how many persons were to accompany the carts and the direction they were going. A few potatoes were given to them which they had roasted and eaten. When the carts were loaded and departed, the Natives went off in almost a parallel direction. I saw two of them pick up spears at a distance of about one hundred yards from Flaherty's stores."
It has been alleged that at first opportunity they surrounded the cart and murdered the two drivers - the Velvicks. Following this, Lieutenant Governor Frederick Irwin prompted retaliation. A proclamation was issued and published in the Perth Gazette offering a reward of 30 pounds for the capture 'dead or alive' of Yagan, and 20 pounds of Midgegooroo. They were now outlaws and were to be "deprived of the protection of British laws." Colonist Thomas Hunt led a volunteer party
after Midgegooroo. They came across "huts not far from the south shore of the Swan" and then "routed" the people living there. They then pursued another group, killing a brother of Midgegooroo, "bringing his ears home as a token."
On May 17, a mixed party - military and civilian - found Midgegooroo and his people in the Helena Valley.
Midgegooroo was never aware he was an outlaw.
Midgegooroo was apprehended and within days executed. His execution led to the further deterioration of 'relations' between the First Peoples of the region and the invaders.
The Perth Gazette invited citizens to "forward the ends of justice by coming forward with their evidence of Midgegooroo's wrongdoings."
There was no trial.
Midgegooroo never knew what was going on.
Lieutenant Governor Irwin proclaimed, "With the unanimous advice of the Council, I therefore decided on his execution as the only sure mode of securing the Colony from an enemy, who was doubly dangerous from his apparent implacable hostility and from his influence as an acknowledged Chief. The latter circumstance being also calculated to render his death a more
striking example."
It is recorded that Midgegooroo was "pinioned and blindfolded and bound to the outer door of the jail."
A volunteer party from the 63rd Infantry would advance upon Midgegooroo, "halt at six paces" and fire. "Midgegooroo fell."
Lieutenant Governor Irwin reported, "The native Midgegooroo, after being fully identified as being a principal in 3 murders at least, was fastened to the gaol door & fired on by a Military party, receiving 3 balls in his head, one in his body."
According to the Perth Gazette, the killing of Midgegooroo was witnessed by a 'great number of persons."
"The feeling which was generally expressed was that of satisfaction at what had taken place, and in some instances loud and vehement exaltation, which the solemnity of the scene, - a fellow human being - although a native - launched into eternity - ought to have suppressed."
Two of Midgegooroo's people, Munday and Migo, in time would put their account to the colonists and the 'government'. They argued that the majority of their people were consistently maltreated by the colonists and that violence towards them was common. Their people were murdered for taking a bag of flour or some provisions. Even in the early nineteenth century, killing people for 'stealing' flour, biscuits, whatever provisions, was considered extreme. Munday and Migo described the colonists as barbarous.
Munday and Migo had a different account of what occurred the day the Velvicks were killed. They said that the Velvicks had tried to take their spears and break them. Munday and Migo believed the colonists were savage and that they had no intention of goodwill and sharing. Munday and Migo were worried "about how many more of their people would be killed". It is believed that they wanted to engage in some form of "treaty". In 1834, the colonists massacred between 100 to 160 people - women and children included - near what is now Pinjarra. The rest we know, from then on it was murder, mayhem and apartheid. The best many could hope for during more than a century-long fury of racism and racialism was for rations of "flour, tea and sugar".